Speeding and punishment

[nicky g]

"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

[sternroolz]

Its something of a falacy that so many people die due to speeding. I would be curious to see the actual numbers of people who died due to excessive speed vs. DUI vs. accidents that occurred at normal speeds.

But it does make for good politics. For instance, City of Los Angeles has introduced law to severly punish street races, including the impound and selling of the street racers cars, without charges even having to have been filed. Thats right, your car can be sold even if you are found not guilty, and you will not recieve compensation for the car.

So how many deaths in City of Los Angeles each year due to street racing?

20. At most. Usually less.

As way of comparison, Los Angeles has 350 dedicated gang enforcement officers. 3% of the officers in LAPD. There are 20,000+ gang members in Los Angeles. They are responsible for in the neighborhood of 800+ deaths per year. But somehow, the city simply does not have the money to add more gang enforcement officers.

Not sure what I am missing here.

Penalties for speeding are currently sufficient.

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"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm just saying that the average person would choose going 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit as less of a wrong than snorting some coke

[mmcd]

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"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

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I'm just saying that the average person would choose going 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit as less of a wrong than snorting some coke

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If proper care is taken, neither of these things are wrong at all.

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"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

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I'm just saying that the average person would choose going 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit as less of a wrong than snorting some coke

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If proper care is taken, neither of these things are wrong at all.

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if proper care is taken then i would argue that drugs are not wrong (this would mean restraining yourself then shooting up) but speeding would be dangerous and wrong although minutely

[mmcd]

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if proper care is taken then i would argue that drugs are not wrong (this would mean restraining yourself then shooting up)

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What, did you see one of those propaganda videos of cocaine-crazed lunatics running around attacking people, raping women, and wreaking general havoc?

What I meant by "proper care" is that when using recreational substances, one must be careful that they don't use them too often and allow them to take over their lives, because the effects on the people close to them could be devestating.

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but speeding would be dangerous and wrong although minutely

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If they passed a law that reduced the speed limit on a particular highway from 65 to 55, and that law takes effect on Sunday, then driving 65 on that highway would be safe and right on Saturday , but dangerous and wrong on Monday?

Whatever arbirary speed limit the government decides to impose doesn't dictate what's safe. Weather, traffic conditions, car type, driving skill, and the general features of a particular strech of road do.

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if proper care is taken then i would argue that drugs are not wrong (this would mean restraining yourself then shooting up)

[/ QUOTE ]

What, did you see one of those propaganda videos of cocaine-crazed lunatics running around attacking people, raping women, and wreaking general havoc?

What I meant by "proper care" is that when using recreational substances, one must be careful that they don't use them too often and allow them to take over their lives, because the effects on the people close to them could be devestating.

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but speeding would be dangerous and wrong although minutely

[/ QUOTE ]

If they passed a law that reduced the speed limit on a particular highway from 65 to 55, and that law takes effect on Sunday, then driving 65 on that highway would be safe and right on Saturday , but dangerous and wrong on Monday?

Whatever arbirary speed limit the government decides to impose doesn't dictate what's safe. Weather, traffic conditions, car type, driving skill, and the general features of a particular strech of road do.

[/ QUOTE ]

please..you have to admit at least some irrational behavior can be expected from a person using drugs or alcohol

by my commen,t i only meant that a person using drugs (responsibly) can be held to only harming himself rather than speeding which cannot be guaranteed not to harm someone else... and this is not with respect to speed limits, i mean excessive speeds for the area such as 60 mph in a residential area

[mmcd]

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please..you have to admit at least some irrational behavior can be expected from a person using drugs or alcohol


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Sure, but there is no shotage of irrational behavior from your average sober person.